In the field of pattern recognition some signal sources provide too much information too rapidlyy for conventional components to be employed with traditional sampling techniques. The result is, either much information is missed or distorted, or special expensive electronics must be created to do the necessary high speed sampling on the signal of interest. Even in the latter case the sensitivity and sampling rate necessary for some rapidly changing signals is too great for presently known techniques. One such application resides in the preparation of certain radar and laser pulse signals by digitizing for pattern recognition.
The present invention provides an inexpensive, relatively simple technique for pseudo sampling a signal. The present invention approximates sampling by separately integrating successive discrete portions of the signal. The resultant series of values describe the signal as fully as would any conventional technique (even if one were able to handle the rapid rate pulses for which the present invention is particularly effective). And, the present invention can be employed at less cost and complexity than previous techniques.
A basic difference between prior techniques and the technique of the present invention is that conventional samplers assume that each sample is taken during an infinitely short time, whereas the technique of the present invention interrogates the signal for a finite time per sample. In conventional sampling techniques an approximation is invariably employed to compensate for the inaccuracy necessarily resulting from the assumption, as all samples require a finite time for taking.